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ITV News
32 minutes ago
- ITV News
'Mass starvation' spreading across Gaza and people 'wasting away', 100 aid agencies warn
Aid distributions in Gaza average about 28 trucks a day for a population of about 2.1 million, as ITV News' Rachel Younger reports More than 100 international aid agencies have warned of mass starvation across Gaza, claiming workers and citizens are "wasting away" as access to tons of food and medical supplies is blocked. In a joint letter, the organisations wrote that the UN-led humanitarian system had been "prevented from functioning", urging governments to help restore the full flow of food, clean water and medical supplies. Those agencies include Save the Children, Médecins Sans Frontières and Oxfam International. The letter stated that there were "tons" of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sitting untouched within Gaza or just outside the region, but that organisations had been blocked from accessing or delivering the stock. "Humanitarian agencies have the capacity and supplies to respond at scale, but with access denied, we are blocked from reaching those in need, including our own exhausted and starved teams," the letter read. "Survival is dangled like a mirage." It claimed distributions in Gaza average about 28 trucks a day for a population of about 2.1 million. Aid distribution has been complicated by a controversial Israeli-backed US-run contractor called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food, according to the UN. "Aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families," the letter from the organisations stated. "With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes. 'Each morning, the same question echoes across Gaza: will I eat today?' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Israel had refused the United Nations the space and safety to deliver aid. "Malnourishment is soaring," he said on Tuesday. "Starvation is knocking on every door. Now we are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles. "Around the world, we see an utter disregard for, if not (an) outright violation of, international law." Israel denied deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff as part of its war with Hamas and said it was operating within international law, blaming UN agencies for failing to deliver food it had allowed in. Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his counterparts from 24 other nations, including France, Canada and Australia, urged Israel to lift restrictions on the flow of aid into Gaza in a joint statement, condemning the current aid model.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Australia pays US another $800m for Aukus amid Trump administration review of security pact
Australia made a second $800m payment to America's shipbuilding industry – bringing total payments so far to $1.6bn which was promised before the Trump administration placied the Aukus agreement under review. As part of the Aukus deal – in which Australia would buy nuclear submarines from the US ahead of its own nuclear submarines being built in Adelaide - Australia has agreed to pay about $4.6bn towards boosting US shipbuilding capacity. After decades of under-investment, the US has fewer nuclear submarines than it needs for its own defence, and is building them too slowly to replace its ageing fleet, potentially jeopardising the sale of any submarines to Australia. The office of Australian defence minister Richard Marles has confirmed the second $800m payment was made in the second quarter of 2025 to boost US boat-building, with payments occurring 'in line with Australia's commitment to contribute US$2 billion by the end of 2025'. A further payment is due later this year. 'When the AUKUS pathway was announced in March 2023, Australia was clear that we would make a proportionate contribution to the United States industrial base,' a defence spokesperson said 'Australia's contribution is about accelerating US production rates and maintenance to enable the delivery of Australia's future Virginia class submarines.' Anthony Albanese confirmed the payment was made as part of an agreed schedule, committed to before the US announced its review of Aukus. 'There is a schedule of payments to be made, we have an agreement with the United States as well as with the United Kingdom, it is about increasing the capacity, their industrial capacity, and as part of that, we have Australians on the ground, learning the skills so that when it comes to the SSN Aukus, the submarines being built here in Australia, we have those skills.' Australia is also paying the UK about $4.6bn to assist its shipbuilding industry. In June, US president Donald Trump ordered a review into the Aukus deal signed by his predecessor Joe Biden. The review is being headed by the Pentagon's under secretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby, who has previously declared himself 'skeptical' about the deal, fearing it could leave US sailors exposed and under-resourced. There is speculation the review could demand further financial contributions – or political commitments such as support in a conflict over Taiwan – from Australia in exchange for the sale of nuclear submarines and transfer of nuclear technology. The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has already asked Australia to lift its overall defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, from its current level of 2%. The US has been demanding similar increases from other allies, including Nato countries. One of the most significant concerns over Aukus in the US is the naval superpower's capacity to spare any submarines to sell to Australia: the first sale is forecast for 2032. The Aukus agreement mandates that before any submarine can be sold to Australia, the US commander-in-chief – the president of the day – must certify that America relinquishing a submarine will not diminish the US navy's undersea capability. The US's submarine fleet numbers are currently a quarter below their target and the country is producing boats at half the rate it needs to service its own needs, US government figures show. Marles told parliament in question time that Aukus would deliver Australia a 'long-range submarine capability' required for a more contested region and world. 'We are living in a more volatile world with increasing challenges… we need a defence force which will give pause for thought for any potential adversary which seeks to coerce us.' The head of the Australian Submarine Agency, Vice-Admiral Jonathan Mead, told senate estimates in February this year Australia's funding to the US industrial base was a vital element of the Aukus deal. 'This contribution will help uplift the US submarine industrial base capacity and accelerate sustainment and production to enable the delivery of Virginia class submarines to Australia. 'Australia's contribution to the US submarine industrial base is to benefit both the United States and Australia.'
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
NPR's editor-in-chief to step down days after Congress cuts $1.1bn in funding
The editor-in-chief of the US public radio network NPR has told colleagues that she is stepping down later this year. Edith Chapin's announcement comes just days after federal lawmakers voted in support of Donald Trump's plan to claw back $1.1bn from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the umbrella organization that funds both NPR and the non-commercial TV network PBS. Chapin informed Katherine Maher, NPR's chief executive, of her intention to step down before lawmakers approved the cuts but will stay on to help with the transition, according to what she told the outlet. Chapin has been with NPR since 2012 after spending 25 years at CNN. She has been NPR's top editor – along with chief content officer – since 2023. In an interview with NPR's media reporter, David Folkenflik, Chapin said she had informed Maher two weeks ago of her decision to leave. 'I have had two big executive jobs for two years and I want to take a break. I want to make sure my performance is always top-notch for the company,' Chapin told NPR. Nonetheless, Chapin's departure is bound to be seen in the context of an aggressive push by the Trump administration to cut government support of public radio, including NPR and Voice of America. Trump has described PBS and NPR as 'radical left monsters' that have a bias against conservatives. In an executive order in May, the president called for the end of taxpayer subsidization of the organizations. 'Unlike in 1967, when the [Corporation for Public Broadcasting] was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse and innovative news options,' Trump's order said. 'Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.' Trump later called on Congress to cancel public broadcaster funding over the next two years via a rescission, or cancellation, request. That was approved by both houses of Congress on Friday, taking back $1.1bn. PBS's president and chief executive officer, Paula Kerger, said that the Senate's approval of the package 'goes against the will of the American people'. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'These cuts will significantly impact all of our stations but will be especially devastating to smaller stations and those serving large rural areas,' Kerger said. 'Many of our stations which provide access to free unique local programming and emergency alerts will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead.' Maher said: 'Nearly three in four Americans say they rely on their public radio stations for alerts and news for their public safety.' Loris Taylor, head of Native Public Media, said the decision 'poses an immediate threat to the survival of small, rural, and Tribal stations across the country'. 'These hyperlocal stations, many of which are the only source of local news, emergency alerts, educational programming, and cultural preservation, operate with limited resources and rely on [the Corporation for Public Broadcasting] funding to stay on the air,' Taylor said. In an essay published by the Columbia Journalism Review on Tuesday, the Guardian writer Hamilton Nolan said that while NPR and PBS will survive, 'the existence of small broadcasters in rural, red-state news deserts is now endangered'.
